Fundraising Information

Our supporters continue to amaze us with what they are willing to do to help those who have suffered life-changing injuries.

We understand that organising your own fundraiser may seem like a daunting task, so in this section you will find a wealth of advice and information to make the process as easy as possible and ensure you get the most out of your fundraiser.

We have split this section into pre and post event information to make it as simple as possible, and if you have more questions feel free to contact us on 01980 846459.

Don’t forget, once you've decided on your fundraiser, please make sure that you register it with us so we can support you all the way.

Pre-Event Information

When organising your own Help for Heroes fundraiser, no matter how big or small, there are many things you need to think about, from getting the right event insurance to having somewhere to put your money.

We want this process to be as simple and stress-free as possible for you, so we've tried to answer all those key questions about how to organise a charity fundraiser.

Help for Heroes has been very fortunate to work with some large and well-known brands and companies. We are hugely grateful for the support they show us, and to respect this partnership we do not give out corporate contacts.

Telling as many people as possible about what you are doing is key to making it a huge success. While Help for Heroes can't publicise the event, we do have a few top tips.

Put up flyers and posters, contact your local paper and radio station to let them know what you're doing, and check if they have a listings section online where you can add your event. Also check if there are any other local listings you can post your event on.

The Help for Heroes national events page can feature your event if you choose this option when you register your event. Unfortunately we can't send information about your event to our mailing list. We can also help with social media - tweet us about your event using @helpforheroes and we will try to retweet to our followers. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee retweets. You can also post on our Facebook page.

While we are so grateful that you have decided to fundraise for us, unfortunately we cannot help you pay for your event. All money raised in support of Help for Heroes is allocated and spent to help our wounded, injured and sick Service personnel and Veterans. We therefore cannot use any of the money we receive to pay for events.

Once you have registered your plans, please call our Supporter Merchandise Team on 01725 514169 who will select the most appropriate items for your fundraiser. Please have your event ID number to hand.

If you would like to use our logo on any marketing materials, please fill in our logo request form here. If you have any questions, you can email logos@helpforheroes.org.uk. You can also request other marketing material including the stretcherbearers, but these must be used in conjunction with the logo.

A great way of raising those much-needed funds and attracting more people to your stall is selling our Help for Heroes branded merchandise. We call this our Shop in a Box and it contains £300 of our most popular items. You can expect to find those staple products such as our iconic lapel pins, wrist wear, our signature bears and lots more!

The best aspect of our Shop in a Box is that we send this out to you on a sale or return basis. This means you can have your box for up to 30 days during your event. Once your event is finished we will call you to arrange collection of unsold products. We cover the cost of the courier, meaning the Shop in a Box’ delivery and collection is all at no charge to you.

It’s the fun, free and flexible way of getting involved and adding the wow factor to your event.

Give our Supporter Merchandise Team a call on 01725 514169 to find out more information and to order your box!

You are more than welcome to get creative for H4H, but you must register it as a fundraiser so our team can make sure it is suitable, and that we can advise on any criteria or guidelines that need to be met.

Help for Heroes has never released a single or approached artists or record companies – these people have chosen to fundraise in support of Help for Heroes and we’ve been grateful recipients. Therefore, we are really not in a position to help (unsigned) artists get their music heard/published and do not have the expertise to provide advice.

Similarly we do not have the means to publish or share books or poems, but we are extremely grateful to all those who choose to share their work with us.

We have an incredible network of volunteer regional and county coordinators. They can help with things like cheque presentations, stalls and speaking about the work Help for Heroes does. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee they can go to every event, but if you contact the National Coordinator Team on 01980 846459 they will do their best to help.

Having a celebrity at your fundraiser should raise the profile, but unfortunately Help for Heroes cannot organise this for you. If you would like to invite a celebrity, we recommend getting in touch with their agent.

Having military personnel at your fundraiser can also be a big boost, but unfortunately Help for Heroes cannot organise a serving soldier to come along. We recommend you contact your nearest garrison or TA or Reserves recruitment office and ask them about having soldiers at your event.

Also please be aware if you are organising any media coverage, a serving soldier cannot do any interviews without MOD media clearance, and this takes anywhere between 4-6 weeks. If you have any further questions, please email fundraise@helpforheroes.org.uk.

We recommend you purchase a lockable box so if you are running a stall or taking donations you can store the cash in a secure location.

At larger functions, handling the money is a full-time job for one of the organising team. It is good practice for two people to be present whenever cash is handled and, wherever possible, the money should be counted/verified by both people. Everybody should be conscious of security and the possibility of theft.

We recommend having a receipt book for your own records and to give receipts to people who require them (for a donation, for example), books can be bought from most stationary shops, and finally don’t forget to get plenty of money bags from the bank for all the coins and notes.

Yes, Help for Heroes welcomes all fundraisers no matter what their age! If you are under 18 or have people involved in the organisation that are, please make sure they have permission from their parent or guardian, and are supervised by a responsible adult.

To register your fundraising plans, a parent or guardian would need to complete the form on your behalf.

Children should never approach strangers about fundraising. It is illegal for children under 16 years of age to participate in public collections. Never leave your children unsupervised during an event or fundraising activity.

Post-Event Information

Congratulations on completing your Help for Heroes fundraiser, and thank you so much for 'doing your bit'!

Here is all the information you need to pay in the money you've raised.

We can't thank you enough for getting involved and becoming a part of Team Help for Heroes. We hope you enjoyed fundraising for our Heroes; if you have any feedback, we'd love to hear from you. Just send an email to fundraise@helpforheroes.org.uk.

We may not be able to prevent our Heroes being injured, but together we can help them get better.

The money you have raised really will make a difference. So that we can help as many of our beneficiaries as quickly as possible, we would really appreciate receiving the money you have raised within four weeks of the date of your event. Thank you for your support.

You can pay your money in a number of ways:

At the bank

Our account details are:

Account Name: Help for Heroes

Account Number: 03524452

Sort-code: 30-90-21

It is also very important that you write your reference number on the paying in slip, we then ask that you email a copy of the slip to donations@helpforheroes.org.uk and include your name, address and reference number.

This is so we can trace your payment and ensure we can thank you for your hard work.

By post

You can download our Donations Form or send us a cheque, made payable to Help for Heroes, to:

Any money raised from selling merchandise through Shop-in-a-Box needs to be kept separate from donations, and should be paid into our Trading account.

You can either pay in through the bank, via telephone or by cheque.

At the bank

If you are paying in at the bank, our Trading account details are:

Account Name: Help for Heroes Trading Ltd

Sort Code: 30-90-21

Account Number: 03524347

It is very important that you write your fundraising ID number on the paying in slip, we then ask that you to email a copy of the slip to sor@helpforheroes.org.uk and include your name, address and fundraising ID number.

This is so we can trace your payment and ensure your merchandise account is up to date.

Telephone

To pay via telephone, please call the SOR Accounts team on 01725 514274. We take all major credit or debit cards (excluding American Express).

Cheque

Please make the cheque(s) payable to ‘Help for Heroes Trading Ltd’ and send with your account number and the relevant order number to the below address. Unsold merchandise cannot be returned to this address (please see ‘What do I do with my leftover merchandise?’):

Help for Heroes

14 Downton Business Centre

Salisbury

Wiltshire

SP5 3RB

PLEASE NOTE: Wristbands are counted as a promotional item. We ask that you get donations for them and keep this separate from the money you receive for merchandise.

If you have ordered merchandise from Shop in a Box, or have buckets and collection tins that need to be returned, please fill out the paper work that will have been with them when they arrived and return them to:

At Help for Heroes we love to hear about all the amazing things our supporters do. If you would like your fundraiser featured on the website, please email news@helpforheroes.org.uk with your name, the name of your fundraiser, the date, amount raised, a short description of what you have done and a high resolution photo. We try to update this regularly with a selection of fundraiser's stories.